COP24 Katowice

Friends of the Earth International held a press conference at the COP24 UN climate meeting in Katowice earlier today. Last year, at COP23 in Bonn, Meena Raman of Friends of the Earth Malaysia said, “We come every year to the COP feeling like a broken record.”

Yesterday, REDD-Monitor wrote about the Katowice Declaration on Forests for the Climate. The final version of declaration was released shortly after REDD-Monitor’s post. There were significant changes, but the Declaration remains bullshit.

Before the UN climate meeting started in Katowice last week, the Polish government put out a statement about its presidency of COP24. Predictably, the Polish government’s statement makes no mention of the necessity of keeping fossil fuels in the ground in order to address the climate crisis.

The COP24 climate negotiations in Katowice are following the same predictable path that the UN climate meetings follow every year. After the first week, the negotiators are arguing, apparently unable to agree on anything much. Over the second week, as ministers arrive, everything will seem hopeless. Then, after a couple of late-night sessions at the end of the second week, an agreement will be found, and the Katowice Compromise can be applauded. The world will breathe a collective sigh of relief.

REDDisms:

“Developing countries must lead REDD+ to success. We must unite with all our friends and partners, implement the Warsaw Framework for REDD+ and ensure the 2015 Paris Agreement kick-starts the needed political momentum. We must reach out and innovate to finance REDD+ at the pace and scale our climate, biodiversity and rural communities demand.”